José Mourinho has claimed there were "irregularities" in voting for Fifa's World Coach of the Year award last year.

The Real Madrid manager made the allegation on Tuesday in an interview with the Portuguese public service broadcaster RTP, claiming that he had been told by several people that he had won the 2012 award, "but someone else got it in the end".

The award was presented to the Spain manager, Vicente del Bosque, at a ceremony in January, which Mourinho decided not to attend. Although he claimed at the time that he had work commitments, he told RTP the real reason he did not go was because of his concerns about the voting.

"Fifa was aware of these irregularities, knowing they were there, but did nothing to avoid them," he said.

Fifa immediately denied the allegations, saying that the list of votes it published on its website was accurate.

Votes for the World Coach of the Year award are cast by national team managers and captains, as well as selected journalists.